Fruit cutting and feeding device



Nov. 7, 1944. L.'A. FRY 2,362,126

FRUIT CUTTING AND FEEDING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet; 1

Filed Dec. 16, 1941 LAWQENCE A. BY

' INVENR ATTORNEY.

Nbv. 7, 1944. 1.. A. FRY 2,362,126

FRUIT CUTTING AND FEEDING DEVTCE Fiie d Dec. 16, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1Z4 WEEIVCEA 4 I 'INVENTOR A rroezvsv.

Patented Nov. 7,

Lawrence A. Fry,.Hollywood, Calif., asslgnor, by .mesne assignments, to General Foods Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application December 16, 1941 Serial No. 423,201

Claims.

This invention relates to machines for separating citrus fruits into separate constituents and more particularly to a machine of the type shown .in my Patent Number 2,212,066.

Devices of this kind operate by having the fruit and gradually compressing itbetween two pressure surfaces, the cut surfaces of the fruit halves being pressed against a foraminous surface as the fruit is moved thereover. The juice bearing portion of the fruit is forced into the openings in said surface and is separated from the white rind of the fruit. When the juice and pulp are used for certain purposes, for example, for sale as pure juice, the requirements gage the rind and produce suflicie'nt traction on the fruit to cause it to slide along the foramr- 'inous surface which is in converging relation with i:-

the pinned drum, pressure between the drum and the surface causing passage of the pulp and juices through the openings in the foraminous plate. It can be appreciated that if the fruit enters the space between the two drums to one side or the other of the aligned spikes and pins,

the fruit will not be satisfactorily engaged by these pins and spikes. In other words, one of the requirements for satisfactory operation is that the fruit enter a predetermined path of movement.

With the above requirements in mind it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a means forv delivering halved fruit into a predetermined path of movement, with the cut surfaces of the fruit halves facing in a predetermined direction. I

It is, a'further object of the present invention to provide a device for delivering, fruit halves into a predetermined path of movement with the cut surface of the halves facingin a predetermined direction, which can be adapted to so deliver fruit halves over a wide range of sizes of fruit.

In the machine shown in my prior patent reliance is had upon circumferential grooves. in the feeder'drum to hold the .fruit' halves upright as they pass the knife. ning of the knife and the rotation of the pressure drum acting together upon the fruit sections tend to spin and upset the fruit, making it difficult to control after it has been out into halves. ent invention to maintain the fruit out of contact with-the feeder dru-m as it passes the knife.

It is a further object'of the present invention of purity of the extracted juice are very string to provide mea fo preventing the fruit from. ent. For this reason contamination of extracted pinnin upon en a em nt wi h the cutting edge juice by oil from the rind must be avoided. Be-- O the knifecause of this fact positive assurance must be had s inventi n DOSSBSSBS a Other advanthat the fruit is initially positioned between the 119.888 and has other objects which y be made pressure surfaces with the cut surfaces of the more easily a t r a consideration of halves facing in the same direction, v one embodiment of the invention. For this pur- In the machine shown in the patent abov e pose there is shown a form in the drawings acferred to, the halved fruit is acted upon by two cornpanying and forming part of the present drums, one of them having spaced circumferenspecification. This form will now be described tial rows of spikes for severing the leading edges in detail, illustrating the general principles of of the rinds and positioning the halves so as to the invention: but it is o be understood tha permit proper flattenin of th rinds as t this detailed description is not to be taken in a halves pass through th machine, The other limiting sense, since the scope of the invention 1s drum has cooperating rows of pins which enbest defined by the appended clalms- Referring now to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan 'view of a machine embodying, the present invention;

Figure 2- is an enlarged top plan view of one of the devices embodying my invention shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a' vertical sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Figurev 2; and,

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The machine upon which the present invention is shown consists essentially 'of four elements which cooperate to separate the juices and pulp of the fruit from the rinds. In order to sever the fruitinto halves a knife or rotary cutter lll'first engages the-fruit during its passage into the machine. After the halves leave th s knife they are guided between a pair of rollers or drums Hand I 3, which perform an initial. squeezing operation on the fruit and prepare it for subsequent operations. These two drums also have functions apart from this squeezing effect. The drum H, which will be referred to as the feeder drum, has a plurality However, the spin-" Accordingly, it is an object of the'pres-v of projecting pins or spikes i2 thereon which, by virtue of the higher peripheral speed of the drum H as compared with the other drum iii, slit the leading edges of the fruit and properly position the fruit as it passes between the two drums. The fruit being, by virtue of the squeezing operation between the drums ii and it, slightly flattened and, by virtue of the slittin operation capable of being further flattened, passes through a converging passage is which is formed by aforaminous member or screen 55,

which is disposed around part of the periphery of the drum i3 and at a varying distance therefrom. The pins 56 on the drum it are merely for the purpose of assuring sufficient traction by the drum is on the fruit to carry the fruit through this converging passage it. It can be appreciated that movement of the fruit through this converging passage gradually flattens out the rind and forces the pulp and juice through openings ll insthe curved pressure member it, the juice and pulp running into a collection trough i8 from whence it is withdrawn for further treatment.

It can be appreciated thatif the halved fruit should be delivered between the drums ii and iii in any position with too great a departure from tangency between the cut surface of the fruit and the drum l, the fruit might be squeezed in a direction which would result in its doubling up rather than flattening out. Such squeezing action would result in clogging of the machine, and the offending iruit would have to be removed from the space between the rollers ii and it before operation could continue. In addition to this, improper positionin of the fruit as it enters the space between the drums it and i3 would also result in doubhng under of the leading edge of the fruit, thus bringing the rind in contact with the perforated pressure surface l5, resulting in contamination of the extracted juices v by particles of the rind and rind oils. Additionally, it can be seen from an examination of Figure i, that if the fruit halves'are delivered to the space between the drums ii and it too much to one side or the other of the circunis ierential rows of spikes i2, they will not be properly acted upon by the spikes i2, and furthermore may miss the pins entirely. The foregoing mishaps are obviated by the present invention, wh ch assures that the fruit is approximately centered on the spikes B2, or in other words, that it is delivered to the predetermined pathsof movement defined between the spikes i2 and pins l6, and also that the cut surfaces of the fruit halves are facing in the proper direction as they enter said paths of movement.

In the form of the invention shown in the drawings, means is provided for presenting the whole fruit to the severing knife and for guiding the halved fruit from the irnife ill to the space between the drums it and it. In order to assure that the fruit reaches the knife ill in a proper manner, a conveyor system is utilized to bring the fruit up to the knife in a single line. This conveyor system consists of a chute iii of sufficient size to contain the largest size of fruit which might be handled. The bottom of this chute has a pair of traveling cables to extendin along its length. These two cables move with the same linear velocity in a direction towards the knife. The fruit normally rests on these cables in a. single line and does not come into contact with the trough. It is thus carried towards the knife by the movement of the cables aeearae and the trough ismerely to guide it back onto the cables in the event that it leaves them for any reason. The pulleys 2t serve to return the cables to the other end of the conveyor system and the fruit passes over these pulleys onto a chute it immediately in front of the knife.

The chute 26, as shown best in Figures 2 and 5, is in the form of a shallow V of suihcient extent to guide the fruit to the knife l0. Roughened surfaces Zia are provided on the sides of the chute immediately in front of the knife iii. These surfaces are shown as being formed by a plurality of upstruck points formed in metal sheets or plates secured to the sides of the chute. The points extend toward the knife iii and serve to Prevent the whole fruit from spinning when it comes into engagement with the cutting edge of the rotating knife to. The chute it is bifurcated beyondthe point 22, and the legs of the bifurcated portion are curved from. the point 22 outwardly from the sides of the knife ill, and are shaped to more or less follow the curvature of the drum It is proposed to support the halved fruit on the legs 23 of the bifurcated portion and I guide it to the space between the drums it and it opposite the rows of spikes E2, the fruit dropping from the ends 2% of the legs in proper position. The means employed for removing the halved fruit from the knife l and guiding it down the legs -23 of the chute includes a pair of plates having sharpened. forward edges 2T positioned adjacent the sides of the knife EU so as to lift the halved fruit from-contact therewith. The plates 28 are provided with horizontal portions Z8; which are supported on a cross member of the machine. As the deflected fruit halves roll or slide down the leg portions 23 they are guided outwardly by a pair of curved deflectors into the space between the drums and in alignment with the spikes i2 and pins it. -A5 the fruit travels toward these predetermined positions between the drums, the engagement of the deflectors with the cut faces of the fruit turns the fruit into proper position for entrance between the drums with the cut surfaces facing toward. the feed drum i i.

The inner ends of the deflectors are secured to the plates 26 adjacent "their sharpened edges 2?, and are bevelled as at who: to provide a smooth surface over which the fruit may slide from the sharpened edges 2T onto the deflectors. As heretofore described, the deflectors are curved outwardly from their points of connection with the plates and cooperatively with the leg portions 23 form troughs through which the fruit may slide and roll. Bhr reasons hereinafter described, it is desirable to provide means for adjusting the deflectors toward and away from the leg portions This may be conveniently accomplished by making the deflectors of flexible material and providing means for adjusting and holding their outer ends with respect to the legs A simple means for holding and, adjusting the outer ends of the deflectors (ill consists of linirs each having one end pivoted as at to the deflectors and the opposite end. adjustably secured to the horizontal portions 28 of the plates The aciiustment oi the deflectors may be accomplished by providing a plurality-of openings in the plates ill in which the pins on the links may ting .the fruit, means The method of operation of the device and the principles upon which it functions should now be clear. The fruit passes along the trough l8, onto the chute 2|, where itis severed by the knife ill. The halves of the fruit are picked off the knife by the sharpened edges 21 of plates 26. The fruit halves then slide or roll along the troughs formed between the leg portions 23 and the deflectors 30, with the cut surfaces in contact with the deflectors as heretofore described. When the fruit reaches the ends 24 of the portions 23 of the chute, it drops therefrom into the space between the feeding drum and the pressure drum. At that instant it is approximately in the proper position with respect to the two drums, and is properly related to the spikes on drum H and the pins on the drum l3. After this the operation of the machine is as was described above.

I claim:

1. A device for delivering halved fruit into predetermined paths of movement with the cut surfaces of the fruit halves facing in a predetermined direction comprising, a knife for cutting the fruit, means guiding the fruit onto the knife, means forming channels for conducting the fruit away from the knife, including a deflector on each side of the knife engageable with the cut surfaces of the fruit halves, each deflector extending from the knife to a point near a predetermined path of. movement and curved to turn the cut surfaces to facein the desired direction, and means for altering the position of the last engaged portion of each of said deflectors in directions transversely of the plane of the knife to control the' angles at which different sizes of cut fruit leavethe deflectors.

2. A device for delivering halved fruit into predetermined paths of movement with the cut surfaces of the fruit halves facing in a prede-' termined direction comprising, a knife for cutting the fruit, means guiding the fruit onto the knife, guide means leading the fruit halves from the knife, said guide means including a pair of members formingv a channel on each side of the knife for passing the fruit halves, one member of each channel engaging the cut surface of the fruit to position the fruit halves, and means for altering the position of the last-engaged portion of at least one 01 each pair of r of fruit.

3. A device for delivering halved fruit into predetermined paths of movement with the cut surfaces of the fruit halves facing in a predetem ined direction comprising, a knife'for cutknife, a curved member on each side of the knife supporting said fruit halves, and a deflector extending from each side of the knife to a point near one of the predetermined paths of movement, said deflectors cooperating respectively with said members to form v channels for passing the'fruit, said deflectors being so mirvnd he 4- members to adjust the channel for different sizes guiding the fruit onto the and means for altering the position of the lastengaged portion of each of said deflectors in a direction transversely of the plane of the knife to adjust the channel for'diiferent sizes of fruit as well as to control the angle at which the fruit enters said paths.

4. A device for delivering halved fruit into predetermined paths of movement with the cut surfaces of the fruit halves facing in a predetermined direction comprising, a knife for cutting the fruit, mea'ns guiding the fruit onto the knife, means guiding the fruit halves from the knife to said predetermined paths of movement including a support and a deflector on each side of the knife, said deflectors being curved to turn the cut surfaces to face in the desired direction and having their first-engaged ends fixed at points closely adjacent the knife and being flexible in a direction transverse 0f the plane of the knife, and means for altering the position of the last-engaged portions of thedeflectors in directions transverse to the'plane of the knife to thereby change the curvature of the deflectors to control the angle at which different sizes of fruit halves enter saidpaths.

5. A device for picking fruit halves from a knife and .delivering them to a predetermined path of movement including, a stationary memher, a flexible member secured at one end to said stationary member and curved away from the plane of the knife, and means for altering the position of the opposite end of said flexible memher in a direction transverse of the plane of the knife to change the curvature of said flexible member and control the angle at which the fruit halves enter said path.

6. A device for picking fruit halves from a knife and delivering them to a predetermined a substantial path of movement including, a stationary meniber having a bevelled portion closely adjacent the plane of the knife, a flexible member secured at one end to said stationary member and curved away from the-plane of the knife, and means for altering the position of the opposite end of said flexible member in a direction transverse of the plane of the knife to change the curvature of said flexible member and control the angle at which the fruit halves-enter said path.

7. A device for picking fr'uit halves from a knife and delivering them to a predetermined path of movement including, a stationary member having a portion closely adjacent the plane of the knife, a flexible. member secured at one end to said portion and curved away from the plane of the knife, a link pivoted to the flexible member at a point spaced from said end, and means for securing said link in different positions with respect to said stationary member in a manner to alter the curvature of said flexible I the angle at which said fruit halves enter said path.

8. A device for cutting fruit comprising, a

rotary knife, a stationary'trough extending at said trough being inclined toward the knife for causing the fruit to move into contact with the /knife, said trough having at least that portion A leaving the fruit free to said roughened surface consisting of a pluralitv fruit in response to contact with the knife but traverse the trough,

angle with the axis of the knife,

by the fruit upon knife, roughened,

- aeealae deflector, whereby the cut face 0:? the fruit is maintained in engagement with the deflector as then-nit moves through the channel the diree tien of the iac eemg some. in sewa e 65min the position/of that portion of the deflector ngegeil,

1!). In a device ior delivering halved fruit into 15 prefleterminer} paths of movement with the out surfaces of the fruit halves facing in a desired direction, means a pair of diverging op positely curved channels adapted to pass the v fruit, means to semmte the fruit halves ad= je-eent the beginning of seic'l channels, each of said channels comprising a membei: for cam ing the fruit and a deflector, said member and said defiecton cooperating to position the out surfaces of the fruit halves, and. means for ad 10 justing said deflectors with respect to their as= sociated members for altering said channels for difffizifizes offmits as well as to control the position of said out surfaces when the leaves the channels.

LAWRENCE A. ZE RY. 

